Eastern
Orthodox scholar Patrick Henry Reardon, commenting on how Jesus (1) increased
in his understanding of the Old Testament and how (2) this was an instrumental
means of His increasing in His understanding of his mission wrote:
Vocation and Biblical Understanding
We are told that Jesus, returning to Nazareth
at age twelve, “increased in wisdom” (Luke 2:51-52). Surely we are right in
supposing that an essential component of His increasing wisdom was deepening
concern for His “Father’s business,” a point rather prominent in His mind on
that recent trip to Jerusalem (2:49).
We are
likewise correct, surely, in supposing that Jesus’ increasing wisdom had
something to do with His further exploration of the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures were publicly
read in the synagogue, where Jesus regularly attended—“as His custom was,” kata to eiothos avtoi. Those same
Scriptures, furthermore, were readily available for anyone who visited the
synagogue to read them, and we do know that Jesus could read (4:16). He gained
a proficiency in quoting the Bible, showing an early preference for Deuteronomy
(4:4, 8, 12).
All of this
goes to say, of course, that Jesus grew in familiarity with and understanding of
Holy Scriptures, specifically as it addressed his life and mission. He knew, from His own self-consciousness, the meaning of the
Scriptures: They had to do with Him.
We are certain of this, because on the first occasion when we know our Lord
publicly read the Scriptures—a passage from Isaiah—His striking comment was, “Today
this Scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing” (4:21).
I suggest that there are two premises and two
inferences especially to keep in mind with respect to Jesus’ understanding of
the Hebrew Scriptures.
First, there is what we may call a vertical premise, having to do with
Jesus’ personal relation to God. In the Scriptures, Jesus perceived His
identity as the One sent forth by the Father to do with His work on earth. The Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus knew, held the
key to who He was and what He was about. Called upon to
declare whether He was “the Coming One,” Ho
Erchomenos, our Lord answered by referring to the scriptural fulfillment
rendered visible in His ministry: “The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached
to them” (Luke 7:19-22).
Jesus’ understanding of the Bible was thus
formed in the depths of His awareness of His vocation—the conscious knowledge
of His identity in relation to the Father: “You are My beloved Son" (Luke
3:22). Our Lord’s interpretation of Holy Scripture was inseparable from the
knowledge of Himself as God’s Son and the Savior of the world. (Patrick Henry
Reardon, Reclaiming the Atonement: An
Orthodox Theology of Redemption, Volume 1: The Incarnation [Chesterton,
Ind.: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2015], 183-84, emphasis in bold added)
Such also
shows the importance of believers being well-read in, and informed of, the Old
Testament. One should strive to have the same appreciation of Scripture as
Jesus did, especially the Old
Testament.
